Participants going for internshipand final year undergraduates are encouraged to join. Please prepare a copy of your CV , burn into CD and pass to us during the event as some of the companies will shortlist potential candidates from the list.

If you have any inquiries, please contact Paarthiban, Head of Public Relation Department at thiban44@gmail.com or 016-5311499.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Live blogging from the 23rd Young Corporate Malaysians CEO Series of Talk by Adrian Lim, Managing Director of Sony Music.

He started his venture into music industry when he was 18 years old. So, he is now close to 20 years in the business, with his age at 37 years old.

He started in the retail business for 4 years, and then he went into Warner Music for 11 years, before at Sony Music for 5 years.

His business is always very much misunderstood, as people would have linked Warner Music with Warner Brothers, and Sony Music with Vaio etc.

Sony Music often worked from behind the scene, and the artists are always the one who got the limelight. People who got into music shop, end up looking for CDs of artists, and not the company that represented them.

Music is always around us, from karaoke, to even back then, when people copied songs from cassettes to cassettes.

Adrian used to buy cassettes from pasar malam, and then he had a catalogue, and when his friends wanted to do parties, he would produce cassettes for them. That was back in his schooling days.

Copyright act started in 1988. After that, copying songs was no longer legal.

Since then, Adrian wanted to respect the law, and then he started to buy original cassettes, and he also wanted to support the industry.

He started to work at pizza shop, where his first week, was washing plate, before he started to get permission to cut fruits. He didn't want to do this work for long.

One day, he went to Jaya supermarket, and he was hired to work at a cassette shop (Horizon) there on the spot. He only had lunch at 4pm that day, but that was his most satisfying lunch, as he found his calling in the music industry.

His pay then was RM1.50 per hour, and it was lower than RM1.80 per hour at the pizza shop. After some time, he was offered RM550 per month as a full time staff.

Adrian tried to apply for Warner, BMG and EMI, but ended up no response yet.

In retail, he learned how to talk to clients. As he was new, he was assigned to do classical music. No one else wanted to do those kind of music. After that, he was assigned to do jazz music.

Adrian's principle is that if one wants to go to the next level, one has to really do more stuff. So, he challenged himself to try out new stuff and gain more experience.

Adrian developed a great skill on how to recommend songs to get people to buy cassettes. So, soon he got promoted to be overall buyer. So, he would be able to look at customers, as they came in, and then he could recommend them to the right cassette, that they would like.

When Adrian's mother asked him what he was still doing, he would say selling cassettes, and she would felt that he was not developing himself, since he still sold cassette. However, his father, especially being a music lover, loved that Adrian is a buyer for music.

Then, he went on to develop himself in the Malay songs, and then eventually into Chinese songs. So, he could sell for all kinds of songs.

He was usually on leave on Monday, and on his off day, he would be doing research on what was the latest songs. He would be listening to musics, and then learned the top ranked hit songs, as well as asking his friends on what was the latest music. He wanted to make sure that he knew all the new songs.

He shared on his interesting example, where customers came in knowing only a little part of the artist's name or the song's name or album's name. Some customers would come in saying that they wanted tape, when asked whether they wanted cassette or CD. To them, tape was what they would want.

So, it took some experience to learn what the customers wanted.

Adrian learned how to attract crowd, for example type of songs that need to be played, to attract attention.

Adrian talked about people's mindset, where people perceived a certain industry is not as glamorous. But if one worked himself/herself up, then he/she would have a great future in it. If want to be successful in anything, never be afraid to do more and learn more. Then, one would learn to develop oneself.

As Adrian wanted to learn to do things more challenging, he went on to start doing retails in selling binding machine and laminator, and covered Shah Alam and Klang.

When he started doing his job, he was able to sell the laminator very well. And eventually, he got promoted to Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya.

One day, his friend told him that Warner Music would like to hire a sales representative. During the interview, he was able to name the artists in Warner Music, and that impressed them a lot.

His second round interview was with Mark Lankester, and his third round was supposed to be with Tony Fernandes. However, Tony Fernandes told Mark that Adrian seems to be a very suitable guy, so don't need to do more interview, but just hire him.

So, he went into Warner Music. Started with radio and then eventually moved around to do promotion. Tony Fernandes was the one who promoted him back then.

Adrian went in to compile a good mix of songs, and then he did strategic marketing. He went on Regional Marketing Manager in Hong Kong for one year, and then he went on to be Senior Marketing Manager and then eventually be Marketing Director.

Adrian talked about loyalty, and also took about 45% pay cut to come back from Hong Kong to Malaysia. He talked also about when he moved from sales to promotion, he took pay cut, as he would no longer be getting commission.

Adrian's wife preferred that he stayed on in Hong Kong, but Adrian felt that his calling was back home.

Two and a half years later, he got a call from Sony BMG, when there was a merger. He eventually got the job as the Managing Director.

Adrian's advice is to be very influential in the field, and to have one's name to be always come up, when people talked about the industry.

During the interview, Adrian told the Regional President that he knew nothing, except music. Adrian was very open during the interview, and shared on how he saw the set-up of the company. The interviewer then was expecting a much more "senior" guy, so Adrian just had to be more serious and seen as a suitable candidate to be managing director.

So, he left Marketing Director from Warner Music to join Sony BMG as Managing Director.

Adrian's advice is not to save work, but always to finish up the work, and get it done immediately. One never knew what interesting work would come up the next day.

Adrian has always been asked on what is his secret of success. He felt that it is very important to really learn and know the stuff.

It is very important to "cross over", where one is able to be adaptable and learn new stuff, and cross sell things to different segment.

Adrian learned how to understand the market, and how to go beyond the core fans, so that there would be greater demand. For example, how to get those English-speaking Chinese to buy tracks for Lee Hom.

He shared on how he turned around the "Dr. Bombay" song, where he sold 120,000 CDs, when he hit the younger crowd and mass, with the wordings of "Kakuta", instead of "Calcutta".

It is very important to educate the market and create the awareness. He would learn what the public identify the artists/songs/albums, as they might not be really knowing the actual name of it.

So, if one can be master of it, then there would be a lot of potential.

Adrian shared that those who are very successful in YouTube, may not necessarily make it big in the actual album.

In terms of whether YouTube would be a competition to his business, he felt that it is not necessary. Sometimes, YouTube could help him to unearth talents, although not all would work when in actual audition.

Adrian also shared about the antics of some artists, like some want to have beer on stage, or want to meet the make-up artist at midnight etc.

Adrian shared on one of his experiences with Aaron Kwok, when he offered to order Coke for him, but he refused, even though the drink was to be delivered to his room in room service. He was the Pepsi promoter. He shared on how professional Aaron Kwok was, when he endorsed the brand.

Adrian shared once where the artist needed a recording of the football match, but somehow the recording didn't work out. So, the artist wanted to cancel the press conference and concert, but luckily Tony Fernandes managed to sort it out with the artist.

Adrian shared on the understanding that his wife had, as he had to go club hoppings to promote his music, and also sometimes, when he went for dinner with his wife, he would go out to his car to bring a CD, to get the restaurant changed the songs, if they didn't play the songs from him. That was his dedication to his job.

Adrian shared on the importance of organizing things and making sure that things are in control. Adrian also shared that it is important to be able to do what one's boss is doing, so that if the boss is promoted or headhunted, one is ready to take over the job.

Adrian shared that if one makes mistake, one has to admit the mistakes and take responsibility to it. Learn from it and improve from it. If one can really know everything about the industry, then it would be convincing to others.

Adrian shared that loyalty is very important, and also always made sure that he learns one thing a day. When he shared lessons learned with others, people would appreciate what he has gone through.

Adrian also shared that it is important to learn how to write good minutes.

Adrian shared that learning how to handle a team is very difficult. So, if one can learn how to handle people, then one can go very far. Human beings have so many character, so it is very important to learn how to handle people.

One has to be flexible to learn how to deal with different type of people. Might need different style to deal with younger people, or with older people. Learn how to manage upwards and downwards.

It would be important to really learn everything. Adrian used to read about every section in newspaper, to really equip himself with all sorts of knowledge. Adrian stressed a lot about reading. It could be reading from the internet. This would ensure that when people talk to him, he is able to talk comfortably to people.

One can't demand respect from others. One has to learn to earn the respect from people. Adrian wanted a good team, and be a team player.

When Adrian hired people, he stressed a lot into looking at their co-curricular activities.

Adrian highlighted that there are plenty of jobs in the music industry, so there are a lot of stuff one can work on.

Malaysians have a lot of talent, where we can learn to go far. In Malaysia, it is very unique, where we can relate to all sorts of music. We would buy Hindi, Middle Eastern music, Korean music etc. Malaysians can accept others' music easily, but our own music did face a lot of challenges to go out.

Malaysians are well exposed to all sorts of music, so in this music, people can go very far.

Today, there are more ways to monetize the music. In weddings, in radio etc, people do pay for the public performance royalty. If everyone starts to pay for music, then it would be growing a lot.

There is an enforcement team from MACP and PPM, who went around to collect public performance royalty and it is a non-profit agency, which would then distribute the collections to the companies, by using 60% air-time played and 40% market share.

Today, people are interested to see performers live, so Sony Music would work concert organizer to bring in performers, and cover the coverage from radio and other promotion.

For Sony Music globally, itunes is their number one revenue generator, much higher than even Walmarts.

Adrian shared that Sony Music needed to educate the people about paying a little more for music, and get Sony Music to get bundled into other products, like in Sony Ericsson or Blue-Rays. Sony Music would also work with other players, like Panasonic.

When being asked on his actual reason of leaving Warner Music, he shared that he wanted to challenge himself to go far. It was a tough decision. Adrian shared that when he went into Sony BMG, he didn't bring in new people, but retained the team, and respected others first.

So, at that time, Sony merged with BMG, and he was from Warner music, but he managed to get everything work well, by earning their respect.

Adrian shared that passion in the job is the most important thing, and one would go far in life with that.

---

Above are the live blogging that I made from Nikko Hotel, where Adrian Lim shared. If anyone caught any typo or wrong information, do let me know. I will rectify it. Thanks for reading.

Encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I will be more than happy to post it to share.Feel free to quote any post within my blog, as long as you link it back here. Sharing is always a good virtue. :)For more educational/youth initiatives, check out Educating Malaysian Youth Facebook Page .

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

It is common knowledge that companies both MNCs and locals are having difficulties in hiring good and knowledgeable IT professionals. Having knowledgeable IT workforce is the key to move up the value chain for the Malaysian IT industry.

The push by our Prime Minister, Dato' Sri Najib Razak, to move Malaysia up the value chain through innovation, knowledge and creativity has inspired a group of geeks to play a part in this ambitious goal by creating a platform for IT professionals to up-skill their knowledge. TechInsights is led by a group of Microsoft MVPs (Most Valuable Professional, an award honoured to IT experts) with a mind to introduce the latest technology. It is meant for hard-cored IT professionals wishing to dive deep into technologies. TechInsights follows strictly to these principles:

Created by geeks for geeks (No Marketing Talk in the event)

Neutral in technology

The sharing of advance level technologies

We have lined up new technologies such as SharePoint 2010, Visual Studio 2010, SQL Server 2008 R2, Silverlight 4, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, System Center Service Manager 2010 and many more. Expect loads of in-depth and hands-on demonstrations by MVPs and industry experts locally and abroad. This is also a great networking opportunity for technology lovers to congregate and exchange their knowledge.

If you need a competitive advantage at your workplace, this is the event that will equip you with cutting-edge insights and expertise that will not only make life easier for you, but everyone else at your workplace.

TechInsights has successfully organized one of the biggest IT event in Penang last year in collaboration with SCOPE (Software Consortium of Penang). We attracted 200 paying audience with speakers from the region and the United States. Due to the overwhelming success, we added Techinsights KL and with expanded audience capacity.

Tech Insights 2010 is an event created by techies for techies. An experience to rediscover the uber-geek within you.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Malaysian Interactive Cultural Learning Experience (MIRACLE) is a project based on exchange that was initiated by AIESEC UPM in the year 2004. The project seeks to impact lives by presenting a social message that everyone has a part to play in safeguarding the environment. MIRACLE is made up of two programs, namely the Interactive School Program (ISP) and Miracle Youth Conference (MYC).

Through the Interactive School Program, various activities are organized such as workshops and roadshows are held at learning institutions within a 4 month time frame. Since 2010, MIRACLE Exhibition and Carnival was initiated to impact more than thousands of people in UPM.

As the main highlight of the project, a 5 days 4 nights conference, proudly known as the MIRACLE Youth Conference (MYC) is held in Universiti Putra Malaysia. The conference targets school youths and university students, between the age of 15 and 22 years old, from all over Malaysia. Based on the history of past MYC, we are targeted a participation of 200 youths. The conference involves an energetic setting incorporated with interactive activities.

MIRACLE Youth Conference 2009The application to become one of the delegates is now open! Sign up now!If you would like to take a look at the events and activities held at MYC 2009, kindly refer to the following blog.ttp://miracleupm.blogspot.com

Saturday, May 15, 2010

We are pleased to announce that Dr Anthony Marsella, Director of Marketing and External Linkages at Lancaster University, will speak on "A Case-Study on Samsung Electronics" in the Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Distinguished Speakers Series on Wednesday, 19 May 2010 at 5.00pm in Lecture Theatre 6, Sunway University College.

You are cordially invited to attend. Please feel free to extend our invitation to your friends who may be interested to attend.

Friday, May 14, 2010

On behalf of Chinese Culture University, I take this opportunity to introduce to you two of our new international programs with courses completely taught in English: International Business Administration (MBA), and Master of Journalism. Both Master Programs have been established for outstanding students who are seeking for international experience and graduation abroad.

Chinese Culture University (CCU) is a reputable, long-established, private university in Taiwan. The university offers bachelor, master, and doctoral degree programs in almost all disciplines. In awareness of the intensifying globalization and the increasing importance of international experience in higher education, CCU created new graduate programs that meet these challenges. We actively welcome students from overseas to participate and benefit from these new study concepts.

CCU offers the following conditions for Master degree in Business Administration program (see attachment 1) and Master program in Journalism (see attachment 2):

For early applicants under your recommendation, CCU grants tuition scholarships, fee scholarships and dormitory scholarships for international students subject to serving as a TA/RA/AA on campus (5 hours per week). There are no restrictions or waiting lists so your student can start right away and apply for the 2010 fall semester. Our early application deadline is May 20th, late applications will be accepted till May 31st. (see attachment 3). Please feel invited to visit our CCU website at www.pccu.edu.tw.

I look forward to receiving your response, and to any recommendations of students you consider being interested. If you wish more detailed information on this proposal, please kindly advise on a convenient time for contacting you.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our staff at the following address:

The Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman will be organising a public talk on "Achieving Emotional Intelligence at work and in life" by Professor Leonard Yong. Professor Yong is an Educational Psychologist who has gained international recognition for his research and consultancy work on creativity and emotional intelligence. He is also the author of the books "Emotional Excellence" and "The LEONARD Personality Inventory".

We are pleased to invite you and your colleagues to attend the talk by Professor Dr Leonard Yong. This talk aims to provide an understanding on the importance of emotional intelligence in establishing healthy inter-personal relationships and promoting personal growth, inner security and psychological maturity.

Twenty (20) complimentary places are provided. Programme leaflet and registration form are enclosed. Please provide details of participants in the registration form attached. Please note the University reserves the rights to decline acceptance of participants without registration.

You've worked long and hard to earn your university degree in the United States. Now that you're graduating, it's time to come home and build your career.

If you are a Malaysian and are setting your sights on returning home to start a career, this is the opportunity you've been looking for. The Accenture Return Home Program offers penultimate- and final-year university students the opportunity to launch world-class careers in a global company, from the comfort of their home country and surrounded by friends and family.

A career in Accenture can provide you with the chance to work in a challenging, multicultural environment with talented and dynamic professionals. Through a combination of collaboration, on-the job and formal trainings, you will develop deep technical, leadership, communication and interpersonal skills on your goal to becoming high-performance professionals.

To learn more about Accenture, the Return Home Program and the opportunities that await you at our company, join us at the US Career Networking Session 2010 on:

We would like to welcome all to the Second Eminent Persons Lecture Series (EPELS) on 18 May 2010 at 2.15pm @ AEI.

The Second Eminent Persons Lecture Series (EPELS) Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya in partnership with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands would be organizing the second "Eminent Persons Lecture Series" (EPELS) of AEI with a special public lecture by the Honourable Ruud F.M. Lubbers, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

Sunday, May 09, 2010

High-paying jobs are no longer guaranteed to graduates, and the opportunity costs of two years of training—especially for those who still hold jobs and are not looking to change fields—loom ever larger.

a senior partner in a consulting firm, who, when asked pointedly if he would advise a highly successful junior person with several years at the firm who was intent on a career in consulting whether an MBA would be valuable for his future, answered, "Definitely not."

Thursday, May 06, 2010

SEDAR Institute in partnership with the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) cordially invite you to attend a Roundtable Discussion on Local Government Elections, scheduled on Wednesday, 12May 2010 from 2.00pm to 6.00pm at Seminar Rooms 1 and 2, Wawasan Open University, Level 3, Tower 1, Menara PGRM, No 8 Jalan Pudu Ulu, Cheras, 56100 Kuala Lumpur.

This event will facilitate a great opportunity to discuss key issues pertaining to local government elections. In lieu of the spirit of democracy, some political parties and non-governmental organizations have advocated restoring local government elections. On the surface, this may appear easy and doable but there are many issues to consider in terms of practicality, feasibility and legality. This roundtable discourse would also examine the various "facts and fictions" regarding local government elections as microscopically as possible.

We sincerely hope that you will accept our complimentary invitation and we look forward to your reply. Your participation in this closed-door session would enrich this forum and enable it to be a valuable space for intellectual exchange of ideas on the big question: "To have or not to have local government elections, if yes, then how?"

Attached below is the tentative program for your kind perusal.

Kindly RSVP your attendance by Friday, 7th of May, 2010 to Ms Janet How, Executive Secretary of SEDAR Institute at 03-92832380 (9.30am to 6.00pm) or by email at sedarcomm@gmail.com. For further enquiries, please contact the same number or email address stated above.

postgradasialive, an education fair dedicated to postgraduate studies is happening on 22-23 May, 12-6pm at the KL Convention Centre, Conference Halls 1-3. The fair features more than 50 leading higher education institutions and education centres, talks and information on scholarships and funding aid. Register at postgradasia.com for express entry.

The Centre for Public Policy Studies, together with Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute and The European Union Delegation to Malaysia will beorganizing a Doha Style Debate; "The EU Debate - ASEAN the New EU?"

Thanks to Adriene Leong, Teck Eng and other anonymous blog contributors for sharing on this post.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The DAP "Know An MP" Youth Programme for the year 2010 is now open for application. The DAP Malaysia will be offering 10 places of attachment nationwide to various top national leaders, Member of Parliament and State Assemblymen (ADUN) in Malaysia.

What is this programme about?

Selected candidates will be matched based on compatibility to a Member of Parliament or State Assemblyman (ADUN). The candidate will attach on a full-time basis to the MP/ADUN and actively participate in their daily work.

During the programme, candidates will have the opportunity to:

Assist and contribute to the work of the MP/ADUN

Gain first-hand experience and insight of being a national leader

Attend parliamentary sessions or state assembly sessions

Organize and participate in press conferences, discussions, political events etc.

As part of the programme, candidates are required to:

Submit a 300-word essay documenting their experience and insight gained

Contribute a 1000-word proposal on how to improve the office of an MP/ADUN or the operation of DAP Malaysia; OR a research topic of choice on a current issue for MP/ADUN debate during parliamentary or state assembly session

Initiate and organize a community event to engage sociopolitical awareness

Selection Criteria:

Youths between age 18-30 (students, fresh grads or young working adults)